| Two of Sextant’s principals, Margit Weisgal
and Ed Chapman, share what they know and their perspectives in columns published by trade
magazines. Key is a series of monthly columns, "Advanced Trade Show Skills" that they share on an alternate month basis in the journal of the Trade Show Exhibitors Association, Ideas. Several of them appear here. Click on the column name that interests you. Budget Management A "How To" For Cutting and Slicing - Ed Chapman Goal Setting and Measurement Is Your Mission Weak-Tea Squishy - Ed Chapman What You Can Count And What You Can’t - Ed Chapman Several more columns from the "Advanced Trade Show Skills" series will be added next month; including a selection from Margit Weisgal. Ed Chapman also writes a series of columns, "The Corner Office," for Exhibit Builder Magazine. Its readers supply exhibits and other services to exhibitors. The column’s purpose is to help them improve. For what they are reading, click the column name that interests you. Your Client Relationship Empowering Your Client - A Win, Win, Win! - Ed Chapman Exhibit Staff Training Do It Yourself But Do It Right - Ed Chapman Exhibiting Primer Lambs Leading Themselves To Slaughter - Ed Chapman More of these columns will be added. To Review any of these columns, click here for Review Comments
Advanced Trade Show Skills (Budget Cut Management) A "How To" For Cutting and Slicing by Edward A. Chapman, Jr. CME Special for the holidays. Professional chefs cut the breast meat off each side of a turkey in two large chunks and then slice! Think about that. It's neat and fast. (And my side-kick in trade show training and consulting, Margit Weisgal, taught me how to bake a turkey at warp-speed, 450° F. It turns out just great! It's really easy. To find out how, ask Margit. Her fax number is 301-871-6523. Her Email number - margit.sextantdc@worldnet.att.net. She'll fax or Email instructions.) This column, however, explores the "How To" of cutting and slicing issues you will face next year instead of holiday turkey. It is almost inevitable that you will be told to reduce your budget at times. (Back at my old company we had the April, August and October budget "views," all of which seemed to specify across the board cost cuts.) If your company follows a practice similar to what we had in place then, lobby against it. Department managers are not altogether dumb. Knowing what's coming, we puff initial funding requests with a bit of fudge, anticipating what we think are inescapable corporate chops.
Avoid Your Own Hatchet Approach The easy way out, in defense of the budget as it stands, is to tell chiefs that you will have to hack off some shows even though you've already paid front money for space. Crocodile tears. You are holding them up for ransom. That's not fair or necessarily true.
Cutting And Slicing To Keep The Flavor There are several things you can do to avoid the budget chop in the first place, and to better manage the situation if there is a major corporate cut that impacts on exhibiting. In this context remember that the fast way for a company to keep its bottom line where it has to be is by short term cost cutting, even if there is a long term price to pay. So know where they stand.
Pressure Cost-Slicing There are a number of things you can do reduce the cost. You lose something, but keep basics.
You get the idea. Save dollars but provide more "sweat equity" for the show. It works. And if you want to save some perspiration with your holiday turkey, fax or Email Margit. That works too.
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Advanced Trade Show Skills (Goals) Overall Objective Is Your Mission Weak-Tea Squishy? by Edward A. Chapman, Jr. CME Corporate mission statements reflect purpose. They are part of business plans read by investors and used in employee education. Occasionally they work their way into advertising as a company theme line. To provide just one example of that, the US Postal Service uses an ad theme, "We Deliver For You" that reflects internal mission. Most, however, are for internal audiences. Seen from the outside they can be less instructive, even Weak-Tea Squishy. They can be seen as selfish. What does it mean to the buyer? "Our mission is to provide old and new products as a team at cost effective prices."
An Exhibit Mission Statement An exhibit mission is not a corporate mission statement. It should not be self-centered, wishy-washy gobbledegook such as "We must demonstrate our on going leadership to the industry we serve." Instead, it should be both more specific and reflective of customer desires. Some companies think they do the trick by citing product features or services that they want to impart to customers and prospects. That's not really it either. The objective of the statement should include the customer. A simple listing of features leaves it up to shoppers to figure what those features will do for them, the true "why buy." The answer: Benefits.
The Value of an Exhibit Mission Statement We suggest a work process to create a mission statement, and show you some examples, shortly. However, you are may be asking, "Why is this necessary in the first place?" There are several sound reasons. A clearly defined mission statement really can help define what those you work with inside the company should be thinking about, the suggestions they make. Booth design, signs and graphics will be designed on this strategic statement. Since these are based on the mission, there is greater chance for easy acceptance. Other aspects of exhibit participation planning will be eased as well. Pre-show promotion and staff recruiting are among them.
The Mission Marriage The work process to create a mission statement for a show is easy. First is internal input from managers and peers on what they think is most important. The more specific the better. What you should find is that most of this input is based on what these folks want to say outbound. The next steps can be a bit more difficult because you have to find out as much as you can about the projected audience and what is of concern to it. It is rare, if ever, that the entire audience at even a narrow-interest event is an appropriate target for you. Talk to the show manager to see what you can learn about audience demographics. That could include information far more extensive than just job titles. Keep in mind the type of customer you serve the best and try to make a match. Estimate your target audience size. Then try to get a sharp view of what customers want. That may not be a "feature" but what that feature does for them, the underlying why-buy. Take a look at the seminars. Show producers decide on subjects to help attract visitors. They reflect issues of interest. Since your products or services are likely to be a solution to some problems, you can see that "why buy" in some of the subjects covered. You can do the same by reading trade publications read by your customers. Editors select topics reflecting reader interests to build circulation.
Illustrations As you read these, think back to the work process that created these mission illustrations:
Beware of Exhibiting on Autopilot Many companies go back to their traditional shows every year. They make an assumption that last year's main direction is pretty much the same for this year. There are three problems with that. First, the direction in prior years may have been mushy in the first place. Second, there may have been internal changes that should be reflected in a show mission this year. Third, there may have been changes in the needs of the industry served that should be reflected. Some of these show mission illustrations above are real; from our experience with clients. A few come from imagination or mask the real situation. They all reflect following our proposed work process and help to direct exhibiting. None of them mean other things cannot be done at an event as well. However, they do provide a main aim point that can reduce confusion, change, delay and extra cost in getting prepared. Gain agreement on a practical mission statement and you have a leg up on a successful show. Get away from weak tea.
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Advanced Trade Show Skills (Measurement/Evaluation) What You Can Count And What You Can't by Edward A. Chapman, Jr. CME "Hurrry, Hurrry, Get Your Program!" Borrowing from Abbot and Costello's old baseball sketch you almost need a program to figure out where's where and who's on first in corporate America, what with all the shifts and changes. Exhibit managers are faced with constant boss-education.
The Reasons Why Perceived exhibit values reflect experience. A CEO with a finance background may look first at return on investment from a pure balance sheet perspective, not the looser meaning adapted by the exhibition industry. A marketing trained chieftain is likely to think of industry relations first. Sales trained managers talk prospecting but really like to use shows to cement existing relationships. Product and engineering people will think about educating the industry. Those experienced in advertising focus most on exhibiting's outbound messages. There is nothing wrong any one of these focal points. But there is often far less appreciation for the equal power of exhibiting's second shoe, learning from prospects and customers plus the industry itself. Pity The Exhibit Manager? Not a bit. The job requires running a program, no small chore. But the manager also works for the company -- and that role very much involves building management confidence. The better you are at boss-and-peer education the less you are subjected to the sword of subjectivity. Part of building that trust is based on knowing where to use numbers, and when they won't work.
Budget Management -- What You Can Count Top management tends to think of exhibiting as a cost center, not a value center such as R&D, sales or manufacturing. The exhibit manager is supposed to create and manage that budget. For the most part it includes all of what it takes to deliver a booth. We don't dwell on it here.
Don't be too frustrated when thunder claps roll down from on high and you have to cut budget. After all, the quickest way to profit is reducing cost. Short term, of course, but natural. If you want to talk about doing that without digging in your heels and cutting whole shows, bring up the subject during the seminar. It's possible, though you have to point out that part of the value will be lost in the process.
Budget Management -- What You Can't Count Do exhibit promotion ads come out of your budget? What about copies of brochures, product samples, giveaways? Product demonstration equipment? Press releases? Direct mail? Lead distribution? Travel and hotel for staff people? The time of staff people-- the biggest single cost? Training? Private suites or off-site events? It is likely that at least some of these price tags are paid by other groups. And often they are buried away in some larger budget. An exhibit manager I worked with said, "Don't tell 'em about the other stuff. The whole program will be killed!" Wrong then and now. Acknowledging other cost centers, and even estimating what they might add, can be helpful from a professional viewpoint. Top managers don't wear blinders anyway.
Value Judgement -- What You Can Count You can mix and match what you count, depending on your situation and goals. Show sales, leads, literature or samples distributed, demonstration visitors, giveaways, pre-show mailing cards returned, questionnaires filled out, press releases distributed, suite visitors and even the everpresent bowl of business cards. It's endless. However, there are two golden rules. First, pick items that management will find useful in making overall judgements. Second, pick items to count that you use at most events and avoid situations where you can cheat by giving more emphasis to whatever it is at one show versus another. You then can make professional comparisons later. As an example, one exhibit manager for a consumer products company always gives away samples of company-made pizza to dealers. "At the last show we gave away 8,632 samples of our new, hand-size pie!" It's a management feel-good, at least. However, this manager does not take the second step -- comparing the cost of the show to the number of pizzas distributed.
After a few shows you will be able to spot those with a lower index and, at least in this one area, you will be in a position to look more deeply into "why?"
Value Judgement -- What You Can't Count It's really difficult to measure "bottom line" sales and profit. People sell -- not booths. Profit includes all sorts of expenditures unrelated to exhibiting. Claim that you "sell" and you'll get into arguments by taking credit for what others do. You can't even measure your booth traffic by yourself! I've tried it, from hand held "clickers" to those thin electric pad counters hidden beneath the carpet. None of it is close to accurate. (Outside research can provide far more reliable answers. You can gather all kinds of data that is helpful because the visitor is being asked without knowing who the client is. However, we have found that the results are appreciated most by chiefs trained in advertising or marketing. They are used to understanding reports that may seem ephemeral to others -- human behavior.) Be cautious about using exhibit industry figures to defend your program. The boss may see them as self serving. And, frankly, the boss will correctly point out that these are averages and nobody is average. Far better to make a subjective point and defend it later with data.
Don't Let Numbers Hornswoggle You A few practical number guides are enough. Do too much and you'll spend all day with a calculator and provide data that may not be as meaningful as you'd like. Build your reputation on doing what you can do that is believable. The sword of subjectivity remains but you will have built trust.
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Empowering Your Client - A Win, Win, Win! by Edward A. Chapman, Jr. CME You think clients hold the big stick? That's not always the case, especially among those who work for mid-size and large companies. The person you work with may feel a lack of empowerment. Private feed back from three different seminar sessions at the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA) meeting in July indicates many do not feel they have authority to do their jobs the way they want to. They feel frustrated. Lots of exhibit managers or coordinators attending TSEA'S TSē had three years or less experience in exhibit marketing. They were transferred in from other departments or were promoted into the job from the ranks. Others were new employees assigned because exhibit responsibility is a great place from which to learn the internal workings of a company. Discussion with others at TSEA, senior exhibit managers, provides perspective. The work quality of the current exhibit designer/ producer persuades top managers that they are safe from harm, regardless of the experience of a new exhibit manager. We also talked with the seniors regarding empowering. To summarize a viewpoint: Nobody is "empowered." People earn that through their own work; product know how -- presenting good ideas to management -- expanding thought -- their presentation.
Exhibit Builder Opportunities I do not agree with an iron-fist "let 'em earn it on their own" viewpoint. Yes, people ultimately have to empower themselves. But my personal growth as an exhibit manager owed much to bits of knowledge provided to me by our exhibit producers. Often my thoughts were stimulated by questions from designer/ builder account executives: • "What's the purpose for exhibiting at this show?" (Even if it is a company tradition.) • "How will you measure the results?" "What does top management want?" "What's extra?" • "Who is our audience, not just the show profile?" • "Where does this show stand in your priority list for the year?" • "What other events will use what we build -- and how will they differ?" • "When do we owe design and schedule?" "What are drop dead dates?" • "How do you pay design costs for competitive submissions?" • "Why do your customers buy, other than for the product itself?" • "How will you promote the exhibit, before and during the show?" • "Who else in the company should we 'talking to' in written submissions or with questions?" • "What ad agency should we contact for logo and graphic support? Who there?" • "How are staff members trained to meet expectations?" • "Where does the exhibit staff come from?" "What do you expect from them?" • "What kind of product priorities are involved?" • "How can we evaluate the audience interests, separate from company interests?" • "What kind of schedule do you visualize for the new booth and graphics?" • "How is time managed? To what extent do other managers provide enough of it?"
Adding Empowerment To Your Service Our sample questions, all phrased in open-ended fashion, include many that you ask already to provide design input. They can also be used to supply clients with suggestions on how they can improve their overall programs, an easy-to-produce extra in addition to design. Some client contacts are drab-beards around since Noah, seemingly safe in their jobs. Others really do not want to put in the extra work. Lazy. They feel entitled to easy answers that can be ignored. But for the most part your contacts, young and old, want to improve and are happy to work at it. They sense opportunity for their companies and themselves. Don't forget that top corporate chiefs often appoint inexperienced people to exhibit roles because they know you will prevent problems. However, that confidence is based on what chieftains view as exhibiting; a 3-D visual output and what goes with it. There are two advantages for you in providing advice and even help for exhibit managers in these and other areas that can enhance careers beyond traditional exhibit budget and visual responsibility. (Subjects can include mission, show analysis, goal setting, promotion , press, training, follow up and measurements.) First, you will help your direct contacts empower themselves, aiding them in earning more responsibility, respect and money. Second, they will credit you. Your credibility will help them sell company management on all exhibit issues. Your firm will harvest the benefits of an even broader based esteem. It's a win, win, win for your contact, that company and you.
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Exhibit Staff Training. Do It Yourself But Do It Right Exhibit staff training is not "ra-ra-ra, sis-boom-ba." It is not entertainment. But it can't be deadly dull either. It should motivate. It must be fun and not threatening. But the tone and content must be serious. Show business takes second place. Even inexperienced speakers can be good trainers. An almost universal problem for adult students is that when they do not know they do not know they elect not to learn. The answer is involvement of students in learning. Buzz word: interactive. If you are the course leader, let those attending entertain you, instead of the reverse.
Meeting Place And Room Ideally, a staff training session should take place on-site, just before the show. At that point you are supported by that niggling fear of the unfamiliar that is never acknowledged. In fact, some will start out saying, "I know all this stuff" in blustery fashion. (They need the training the most.) You also can conduct training at company headquarters. Best is shortly before the event, but it can be at an annual sales meeting -- followed by a reminder session at each show. But training must be conducted away from the office, at a local hotel or conference center. If presented in a company meeting room, those attending always run back to their offices during breaks, check messages and get into tel-tag with those calling. Your session is destroyed. Subtle but important is room setup. As meeting leader you must be seen as in charge. In large group situations the best is not "theater" seating, but instead a series of tables with a center aisle. You will want break-out groups and the tables are a natural. In addition, they provide those attending an easy place to write notes. If your session is for few people it will be at a conference table. Spread your papers at one end in advance and sit there. Place the coffee service at the other end. Nobody will sit there. You have established control without appearing to do so. No "competitor" at the other end.
Agenda We automatically think that staff training is all about booth contact skills. Much of it is, but it is just part of what should be covered overall. Here are some subjects: 1. Short introduction by a company VIP. 2. The presenter outlines the overall training. 3. Product or other experts present a reminder overview (short) to help people answer questions. 4. Booth overview. This can include a booth map. 5. Audience overview. Who and how many, and audience interests. 6. Show summary including hours, off site events or special features. 7. Team assignments and booth hours. 8. Seminars of interest to exhibit staff people. 9. Announcement of any seminar that includes a company representative. 10. How to handle press representatives. Distribute copies of any press release that will be placed in the show's press room. 11. Distribution of credentials, show programs -- the package that everyone gets that you pick up for all. 12. Group booth visit.
Contact Training Module The essential booth contact module can fit in where you think it best. For instance, many like to put this large, interactive module in before distributing credentials and the booth visit. Before starting it you can declare a short break. (Provide a small service of food and beverage.) Ask that when people return they shift chairs and sit next to someone they don't know so well.
Introduction: Ask everyone for a 30-second self introduction, plus what they want to get out of the training session. Hint: Ask people what they are proud of.
Exhibit Selling Is Different But Easy: There are natural psychological barriers. They boil down to everyone's desire to see people they already know more than to introduce themselves to new people. This is rejection fear. Shows are different. Everyone there has an agenda and all work in the same basic industry. Staff members are never in the position of a used car salesperson.
Mission And Goals: Explain the company's mission at the event and the tactical goals that radiate from it. To the extent possible, put some numbers in with the goals.
The Key To Conversation: From start to finish you want to encourage visitors to share thoughts and views. To do this ask "open ended" questions. These are not answered by yes or no. When you ask them, they include one of the following words: what, which, when, who, how, where. For instance, when you first introduce yourself you can say something like, "Hello, I'm Margit Weisgal from Sextant, what do you think of the show so far?" Followed by, "Which seminars are most important to you?" "What is your goal at the show this year?" Answers will allow you to decide to shake hands again and say goodby, or to invite the visitor in for a discussion or demonstration.
Interactive Exercise: Make up a short form with lots of blank space and hand it out. There should be four "questions." 1. What facts would you like to learn from a visitor? Just a couple of words for each. We'll share them. (Give those attending two minutes. Then ask for volunteers to share their ideas.) 2. Now, take two fact needs and write out questions that ask for the information in open ended fashion. (The challenge for the presenter is that many will still ask questions that invite a yes or no answer. Stop them and help correct the way questions are asked.) 3. What are our product features or advantages -- just a couple of words for each? (Again, give those attending a couple of minutes and ask participants to share what they came up with.) 4. Take two features or advantages and for each write a one sentence statement, followed by a one sentence open-end question that helps continue the conversation. Now ask the group to create questions that do ask for a yes or no answer, with perhaps an explanation. This is an indication of interest. Start by asking your students, "What do you want next, after the show?" These become the yes-no questions. For instance, "Should we schedule an appointment in your office after the show?" Finally, ask table teams to make up a short case study and fully develop a conversation that leads to closure. Give them five minutes and then ask for volunteers to perform. (You might want to set this up in advance with a few people to get things going.)
The Personal Advertisement: The dress code is "business" even if that is a level up from the clothing worn by visitors at a resort venue. It signals respect. In addition, encourage folks to appear alone at the booth -- not locked into conversations with other staff people.
Body Language: Stand in front of the group with your arms folded across your chest. Ask what that signals to them. (Don' t come near me.) Next, stand with arms behind you in "parade rest." Ask again. (Guarding the Castle.) Now stand with your hands deep in your coat or pants pockets. Ask again. (I really don't care.) After laughter subsides, stand with your hands hanging down to your sides for a moment, still. Ask what that means. (Open, a bit vulnerable. Easy to approach.)
Other Exercises To Consider: In this short column we can't cover all. However, there are other exercises to consider. 1. In addition to the basics, how to use body language to guide a visitor contact. 2. How to make sure you are understood as you speak in the hubbub of a show floor. (People do not know the real reason behind the rule of wearing name badges high and on the right side of the chest. It traces back to the industrial noise in any trade hall.) 3. A warm-up physical exercise routine that gets blood flowing to the brain and makes people sharper. 4. Using a team approach to the contact job at the booth properly, including disengagement from a clinging visitor. 5. How to create and use a lead card, and tied to that how to deal with automated registrations. 6. How results will be measured, as well as ways to get subjective input.
This Is A Teaser - TSē And More Available If we have excited interest in you to prepare your own training program, for your clients if you are an exhibit builder, or for your company if you are an exhibit manager, you will want more information on how to do this and all the choices you have. If you are reading this before or during the Trade Show Exhibitors Association meeting -TSē my business associate, Margit Weisgal, is presenting a seminar on this subject. It is set for Thursday morning, July 31st. It is much more comprehensive than this column. In addition, Margit's book, Show and Sell, from the publishing arm of the American Management Association, covers the subject. My own book, the second edition of Exhibit Marketing, published by McGraw Hill, includes two chapters on how to create your own training program. In all cases, you will see detail and sample forms you can adapt. You may ask why should I do this myself? There are two reasons. One is that the best program should be unique to a company, its situation and goals. The approaches we suggest in columns, broad-based audience seminars and books are necessarily somewhat generic, without client input. However, they serve well as a base for you to create a custom program. Two is that your sweat equity can often substitute for spending dollars with us developing it for you. We are not inexpensive and it can be a tough management sale for you to spend the extra dollars, because most do not know that they do not know about the value added by a well trained staff. Training that sticks is nobody's sis-boom-ba.
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The Corner Office - by Ed Chapman LAMBS LEADING THEMSELVES TO SLAUGHTER Exhibit Designers and Producers spend virtually all their time and creative energy helping others display. Very infrequently do you worry about how to exhibit yourselves. That’s because there are very few targeted exhibit marketing opportunities for display creators. Thus, you are lambs for slaughter. Because of great strength in helping others visually, but little genuine knowledge of the exhibit marketing process as a whole. Many have observed, smiled and even chuckled about it. But on a serious note, the end results are less than you should wish for. The goal of this column is to provide aid in that context from the perspective a long-time corporate exhibit manager.
The Specialized Shows Among your events are two mid-size regional trade shows a year for company exhibit managers sponsored by Exhibitor Magazine. And because the health care industries are so many and so diverse, there is a Health Care Exhibitors Association and its annual event. But the really big time national convocation, "TSē," is produced by the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA). This year’s event takes place at the end of Chicago’s Navy Pier in July. We focus on TSē. It’s real, current, large and illustrates issues and answers for exhibit designers and producers. This show provides a unique opportunity and many readers have been or are involved with it. However, the principles we present apply regardless of where or how you exhibit. The TSEA’s exposition floor is one of the most interesting and lively you can imagine. Influenced by designers and builders interested in attracting a sophisticated market, it is a fascinating show case for design and fabrication methods. The visual messages reflect what you do best. Sometimes these messages are arrogant or intimidating - designing for design’s sake. But even if we ignore the few big ego displays, rarely have I observed exhibit marketing operations that scream for so much help! Shoemakers’ children with no soles underneath beautiful shoe tops!
Understanding the Event
If you have participated at TSē over the years, or regularly at another show, you may feel you know all you need to know about it. If so, you fall into that category of people who claim 10 years experience but have but one, repeated nine more times. It’s exhibiting on autopilot, not keeping up with changes in the event, its audience, and the interests of that audience. Much of the information you ignore doing what I did. Make a phone call.
The Audience Some of the advance information available from TSEA was summarized by its President, Michael Bandy. The association’s membership and its show audience have gone through a sea change in the past few years. He says, "There are a number of shifts, but the most dramatic is that female exhibit managers now make up 79 percent of our buyer members, a far cry from what was a male dominated industry years ago." Members are younger, too. Based on 1998 research, four out of 10 members are between 25 and 35 years old. Three out of 10 are between 35 and 45 years of age. The above 45 crowd is down to only a quarter of membership. In parallel, 45 percent of the membership has five years or less experience in the occupation. The association, and its show, have grown steadily. Membership has more than doubled, to 2,200, in the last six years. Seven out of 10 members today are exhibit mangers, with vendors and others accounting for only about 30 percent. Bandy hastened to point out, however, "Of the 4,000 who attended the ‘98 show in San Francisco 55 percent were exhibit managers." Why only 55 percent? Simple answer. Exhibitors bring several people to staff booths, inflating that side of the equation. Changing membership was reflected as well. Last year XX percent of the audience was made up of first-time visitors. You can count on that pattern to be important this year. In its early days TSEA was almost totally dominated by behemoth corporations in the communications and computer fields. Because of the nature of their products and services, they had to exhibit at a large number of shows in diverse markets. Today, technology companies are still account for the largest single portion of the TSē audience, but many others have joined in. Among industry segments that have grown in the TSEA family are companies in construction and facilities management - home builders and the like, consumer electronics outfits and health care companies. Bandy also points out something less obvious. Top corporate management’s focus on cost control influences its exhibit professionals. Accountability is really a fact of life today. Saving money per se is not the issue as much as is creating a perception that your creativity can provide practical solutions to reach practical goals as seen by top management.
So What? What might these factors mean in your approach? Clearly, your display and program must attract the attention of a younger, mostly female audience. At the same time as being attractive, it must demonstrate that you are businesslike in the solutions you would suggest. You should also assume that your visitors have less experience than in the past. Explanations and questions should be stated so they are clear to those who may be attending their first TSē. The most productive exhibitors recognize that even at the most targeted of events their own most natural prospects represent only a portion of the audience. For instance, if you have special experience in helping home builders, consumer electronics or health care companies, they should be given emphasis in your TSEA display and program. You have some knowledge of their shows and are able to speak their lingo, helping to create a greater degree of trust.
Goal Setting For the most part all I hear is yatta-yatta. Some will tell you they are participating for image and to blunt competition. That’s fine, but take the extra step and try to isolate these goals to get some results you can count; more than just a feel good. Others will cite seeing their customers and prospecting. It’s fine to take the opportunity to meet those you already know on neutral ground. That’s fun and comfortable. But for what specific business purpose? Cite that in plans and you will do it. As for prospecting, mostly it’s lip service nonsense. Gather a bunch of business cards or a registration device’s output and call the names leads? Make up your mind what you are prospecting for. What will be the next step and how do you get there? Now you’ve got something to shoot for. Some will cite education or the creation of awareness as a goal. A good objective, but in what special industries or in what regions of the nation? The old admonishment is to pick berries in a thick bush. Compare yourself to the audience profile and you will find out where your berries are plentiful. Now you have goals to reach.
Learning is the Name of the Game If you are like most builders you spend most of your effort trying to dazzle booth visitors - telling them more than they ever wanted to know about you. Does it ever occur to you that it might be a good idea to get visitors talking about their companies, their problems? People love to talk about themselves anyway, and in this case you can learn enough to qualify visitors and weave in some confidence building information along the way. You can start and control dialogue that substitutes for your one-way monologue. If you are sponsoring a booth at TSē, attend its special exhibitors seminar on booth performance. Ask how to get the dialogue going. It’s easy. (If you are not going to this show, ask me, through Exhibit Builder. I’ll put together a one-page summary instruction.) There are two other ways to learn. Most important at TSEA is that you can attend seminars right along with the exhibit managers. And just being seen there signals your overall interest in their issues. (Cross check that at other events since some don’t encourage it.) Second, study your competitors. It is not enough to note that the "Wonderful Display Company" is exhibiting, too. Analyze their booth and approach. You will learn a lot about what they see as their strength and what they are offering to prospects and customers.
Promoting Yourself Egotistic? No. Encouraging visitors to call at your booth can be very important, both before and at the event. It’s more than a tad late to plan something for TSē, but for next year and other events, seriously consider the investment. As you try to come up with ideas, go right back to what you learned about the audience. Even at the most targeted of shows you really don’t want to see everybody! That’s a waste of your time, and the visitor’s time too. What you say or do should relate both to your target market and what you do best. For instance, if you really want to focus on east coast prospects in the consumer electronics fields, restrict your mailings to them. And if you offer a booth visit prize, restrict that as well. A good prize can be a discount on a first order, rather than something for everyone. You will attract serious buyers. Be really careful about games at the booth. Make them relevant to what you are offering and make sure they remain a secondary activity. All too often exhibitor suppliers run exciting contests that become an end in themselves. Both you and your prospects substitute fun for business discussion.
A TSEA War Story There are times when a real life experience tells the tale best. This one relates especially to booth performance and follow up related to a TSEA exposition. A big chunk of my career was as an exhibit manager for a very large company. We did several hundred shows a year, many of them small events that required that we stock a flock of set-it-up-yourself portables. Our inventory was old and from a mix of manufacturers . It was not feasible to mass produce common graphics. On a custom basis, the signing and graphic messages cost a ton. We went shopping at TSē. Those in our group, using a list of specific requirements, visited all the portable manufacturers at the show. (A clue for you is that when an unusual number of people from the same company are attending, something special is afoot.) Cutting through the usual one-way-pitch monologue prattle, we forced exhibitors to really listen to the what and why of our problem. After two days our team agreed on three of the offerings, any one of which would fill our needs. After one more walk-through on the last day, and during the last hour of the show, we gave sales leads to the three manufacturers. (Being open for business, not starting to fold tents early, was our reliability test.) A week later, we heard from one of them. After four months the second emerged. Tail-end-Charlie’s area dealer didn’t darken our doors for six months. We had to tell the Johnny-come-lately outfits that the deal was already done. There was an added show shopping plus for us. We were able to tell an overabundance of portable exhibit sales people who, because of our size, constantly called on us, that we had shopped at TSē and made our decision.
A Selling Show You know from working with clients that legal constraints prohibit some shows from allowing exhibitors to close deals on the floor. But TSē is a selling show. Bandy says, "You can sell at your exhibit if you wish; and that includes even the booth itself!" So don’t be an exhibiting lamb.
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